Brazing is a useful process for joining two components or materials together. The brazing process may, however, be dependent upon specialty materials, such as a braze paste. The braze paste itself may have a short shelf life, and it may be difficult to control, for example, the consistency, quantity, and location of the braze paste, especially if access to the braze location is limited for the paste. If too little of an amount of braze paste is applied, the part may need to be reworked. If too great an amount of braze paste is applied, the braze paste may run to undesirable areas of the part. In addition, the use of a braze paste may result in inconsistencies in the brazing process, thereby resulting in a non-uniform component being manufactured or being repaired.
More specifically, turbine components are often manufactured with openings or passageways that, in certain situations, are no longer needed or are advantageously sealed or blocked after manufacture. Examples in a gas turbine system include a tip plug, a plenum hole, and a ball chute. These openings may be difficult to access for sealing or blocking. Conventionally, such openings are sealed or blocked by brazing either a pre-sintered preform ball or a metal ball of a superalloy, such as Hastelloy X, together with a braze paste. Pre-sintered preform vendors are limited in number, and obtaining pre-sintered preforms, especially customized pre-sintered preforms, from vendors may take time and be costly.